window rock, navajo nation

community clean-up on oct 23rd, 2021

a short walk from gallup, chauncey and noah arrive in window rock, the capital of the navajo nation. it lies just on the arizona side of the border with new mexico, and is the legal and judicial hub of the sprawling nation, which stretches across the high desert of northeastern arizona, and includes parts of new mexico and colorado. the navajo people have served as stewards of this land for many hundreds of years.

some folks at the fair grounds graciously allow us to camp out in one of their office spaces, which spares us from the freezing nights. we spend our days at the library, coordinating future festivals.

on saturday morning, we are joined by a handful of folks, including a ream from rez refuge, who are working on several youth development and community-building projects, including litter clean-ups. together, we pick up almost 1,000 pieces of trash around the window rock memorial monument, located just next to the tribal council chambers. while we sort, we discuss the various interlocking infrastructural challenges the nation faces that complicate tackling the solid waste management problem, as well as opportunities for conservation work. all answers in part come back to community awareness and engagement.

thank you for the warm welcome, we look forward to being back soon :)